Perhaps the greatest challenge you’ll ever face in life is the conquest of fear and the development of the habit of courage. Winston Churchill wrote, “Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it, all others depend.” Fear is the greatest enemy of mankind. When Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he was saying the emotion of fear, rather than the reality of what we fear, is what causes us anxiety, stress, and unhappiness. When you develop the habit of courage and unshakable self-confidence, a whole new world of possibilities opens up for you. Just think – what would you dare to dream, or be, or do, if you weren’t afraid of anything?
Fortunately, the habit of courage can be learned just like any other success skill. To do so, we need to work systematically to diminish and eradicate our fears, while simultaneously building up the kind of courage that will enable us to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life, unafraid.
Syndicated columnist Ann Landers wrote: “If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, ‘I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.'” This is the kind of attitude that leads to victory.
FEAR FACTORS
The starting point in overcoming fear and developing courage is to recognize the factors that predispose us toward being afraid.
Childhood Conditioning: This is the root of fear that caused us to experience: the fear of failure and fear of rejection. Fears tend to paralyze us, holding us back from taking constructive action in the direction of our dreams and goals. We hesitate, we become indecisive and we procrastinate.
Ignorance: When we have limited information, we tend to be tense and insecure about the outcome of our actions. Ignorance causes us to fear change, to fear the unknown and to avoid trying anything new.
Illness or Fatigue: When we are tired or unwell, or when we are not physically fit, we are more predisposed to fear and doubt than when we are feeling healthy, happy and terrific about ourselves.
The second step in overcoming fear is to objectively identify, define and analyze your own personal fears. Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” It is not whether or not you are afraid; we are all afraid. On a sheet of paper, write the question, “What am I afraid of?” Write down everything that causes you anxiety; then determine the fear that has the greatest impact on your thinking, and holds you back more than any other. With regard to your predominant fear, answer these questions:
1. How does this fear hold me back in life?
2. How does this fear help me, or how has it helped me in the past?
3. What would be my pay-off for eliminating this fear?
By objectively analyzing your biggest fear, you have begun the process of eliminating it. You can continue developing courage and eliminating fear by engaging in actions consistent with the behaviors of courage and self-confidence.
BUILDING BLOCKS OF COURAGE
Focus on areas where you can practice to develop the habit of courage.
1. Courage to begin: This is the courage to try something new or different, to move out of your comfort zone, with no guarantee of success. The future belongs to risk takers, not security seekers. One way to get the courage to begin is to plan and prepare thoroughly in advance. Set clear goals and objectives; gather information; write out detailed plans of action; then take the first step.
2. Courage to endure and to persist once you’ve begun: Persistence is a form of courageous patience. When you plan your work and work your plan through patient persistence, even with disappointments and setbacks, you will develop the quality of courage.
3. Courage to conquer worry: This is a form of negative goal-setting. It is vividly imagining and facing up to exactly what you don’t want to happen. The antidote to worry is purposeful action toward a predetermined goal or solution. When you get busy doing something to resolve your problem, you will not have the time or mental capacity to worry. And before you know it, your worrysome situation will have been resolved.
The mastery of fear and development of courage are essential prerequisites for a happy, successful life. With a commitment to acquire the habit of courage, you will eventually reach the point where your fears no longer play a major role in your decision-making. You will set big, challenging, exciting goals, and you will have the confidence of knowing that you can attain them. You will be able to face every situation with calm self-assurance. The key is courage.
Brian Tracy is the author of “The Psychology of Selling.” Special offer: To receive your free copy of “Crunch Time!”, visit www.briantracy.com and click on the Crunch Time! icon. He can be contacted at 858.481.2977.
